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April 2005
Foundation Facts & Figures Across the EU –
Associating Private Wealth for Public Benefit
An initiative of the European Foundation Centre Research Task Force
with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation
Foundations in Europe
Across Europe, foundations are receiving increased attention and are taking up a more central role in
policy discussions on the future of economic, social, and environmental issues as well as research and
innovation, among others. Foundations work to improve the living conditions and quality of life of the
general public and specific disadvantaged individuals, and they promote civic initiatives and active
citizenship. Foundations in Europe are not a new phenomenon. Private giving can be traced back to the
Middle Ages in countries as far apart as Portugal and Finland. Today we can see a new momentum for
the foundation sector, which has grown rapidly over the last decade.
Defining Foundations
Foundations are an important part of the independent funding community, representing a valuable
source of income for associations, and/or they operate key programmes and services to benefit the public
in a variety of fields. The European Foundation Centre has established – through the guidance and input
of its membership – the following general concept of what a foundation actually is.
Foundations:
• Are separately-constituted non-profit bodies with their own reliable source of income, usually
but not exclusively from an endowment or capital
• Have their own governing board
• Use their financial resources for educational, health-related, social, research-oriented, cultural,
or other public benefit purposes either by making grants to third parties or operating their own
programmes and projects
Although foundations may have specific national characteristics arising from both cultural and legal
developments and the different uses of terminology for this area, the above concept covers the majority
of the foundations in Europe today, and distinguishes them from sources of non-independent funding as
well as from associations.
Foundation Types
Foundations can be grouped into the following broad categories:
• Independent foundations, which form the largest part of the sector
• Corporate foundations
• Governmentally-supported foundations
• Community foundations with a local/community focus and other fundraising foundations
European Foundation Centre 1
Foundation Facts & Figures Across the EU, April 2005
Number of Foundations in the European Union
A broad sweep of country surveys gives an approximate total of 200,000 organisations that are labelled
or call themselves foundations in the European Union. However, a closer look shows that the actual
estimated number of foundations in the old 15 Member States amounts to some 62,000 at the turn of the
century, an average of more than 16 foundations per 100,000 inhabitants. The following shows the
number of foundations in each of the pre-2004 Enlargement countries.
14,000
14,000 300
11,503
Number by 100,000 inhabitants
12,000 250
10,085
Number of foundations
10,000
8,800 200
8,000
6,000 150
6,000
3,300 100
4,000
2,560
2,109 50
2,000 1,000 803
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Foundations’ fields of activity at a glance
Foundations active in Europe concentrate their activities (activity) and the bulk of their resources
(expenditure) in the following key fields (in addition to fields such as the environment, civil rights, non-
profit infrastructure, sports, animal welfare etc.):
Belgium (expenditure) Arts and culture Social science Education*
Community development
Finland (expenditure) Education and housing Health
France (expenditure) Health Social services Science
Germany (activity) Social services Science Education
Italy** (expenditure) Arts and culture Social science Education
Netherlands (activity) Social services Education Science Health Culture
Spain (activity) Social services Arts and culture Education
Sweden (expenditure) Science Social science Social services
United Kingdom***
(expenditure) Social services Health Education
*Education includes vocational training; **Italy: covers expenditure of Italian foundations of banking origin
*** United Kingdom: covers expenditure of the top 500 Trusts
2 European Foundation Centre
Foundation Facts & Figures Across the EU, April 2005
Foundations’ Expenditure
Foundations use their resources to give grants, in some cases to offer loans or guaranties, and/or to
operate their own programmes. The EFC Research Task Force survey illustrates that out of the 62,000
foundations identified in the old EU Member States, some 26,000 foundations in 9 EU countries
reported a total expenditure of over 51 billion euros – an average of almost 2 million euros per
foundation.
Country Total expenditure of foundations surveyed (euros) Year
Belgium 150,000,000 2001
Finland 387,727,000 2001
France 3,139,000,000 2001
Germany 35,000,000,000 1999
Italy 4,848,597,000 1999
Netherlands 2,672,180,000 2003
Spain 925,971,000 2003
Sweden 656,000,000 2001/02
United Kingdom 3,231,100,000 2001/02
Total 51,010,575,000
Foundations’ Assets
Analysing foundations’ assets helps us to better grasp the specificity of the foundation community
within the wider third sector, and give us a better idea of their scope. Out of the 62,000 foundations in
the old EU Member States, 27,000 foundations surveyed across 8 countries reported combined assets of
some 174 billion euros, an average of over 6 million euros per foundation.
Country Total assets of foundations surveyed (euros) Year
Belgium 555,000,000 2001
Finland 5,141,818,000 2001
France 8,012,400,000 2001
Germany 50,000,000,000 1999
Italy 45,500,000,000 2002
Netherlands* 1,445,282,000 2002
Sweden 17,049,000,000 2002
United Kingdom** 46,597,360,000 2001/02
Total 174,300,860,000
*Netherlands: includes 400 foundations collecting funds; data is not available for 600 endowed grantmaking
foundations
**United Kingdom: includes top 500 Trusts
Foundations – employment and volunteering
In 7 EU countries – Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain – over 10,500
foundations surveyed were found to employ some 185,700 people, which equals an average of 18
persons per foundation. Many foundations do give grants or can provide capital support to employment,
creating and sustaining initiatives in the different fields in which they operate. Their contribution to
employment creation should therefore also be interpreted in this context.
Volunteering is an important feature of the foundation sector. Over 10,000 foundations surveyed in 6
EU countries involved some 144,500 volunteers in their work, for an average of 14 persons per
foundation.
European Foundation Centre 3
Foundation Facts & Figures Across the EU, April 2005
About the EFC Research Task Force
A key objective of the Centre’s work is to improve knowledge of foundations and to better document
their public and social utility across the EU by presenting up-to-date figures. This work is carried out
through the EFC EU Committee’s Research Task Force and its members, who have undertaken a survey
of the Dimensions of the Foundation Sector in Europe, from which this data comes. This initiative
receives special support from the King Baudouin Foundation.
For more information...
Further details on the Foundation Facts & Figures Across the EU are available from the EFC website at:
www.efc.be/projects/eu/research/facts.htm
About the EFC
The European Foundation Centre (EFC) is an independent
international association that promotes and underpins the
work of foundations and corporate funders active in and
with Europe. Established in 1989 by seven of Europe's
leading foundations, the EFC today serves a core
membership of more than 200 members, associates and
subscribers; 350 community philanthropy initiatives; as
well as a further 50,000 organisations linked through a
network of 58 information and support centres worldwide.
The EFC hosts WINGS (Worldwide Initiatives for
Grantmaker Support), a global network of some 100
grantmaker associations and support organisations.
European Foundation Centre, AISBL
51, rue de la Concorde
1050 Brussels, Belgium
tel.: +32.2.512.8938
fax: +32.2.512.3265
e-mail: efc@efc.be
web: www.efc.be, www.fundersonline.org,
www.europeintheworld.info
4 European Foundation Centre
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